I'm new...

Lookin' at buying a refurb Omen as a starter marker. I've priced out a ton of economy markers, and the claimed speed of the Omen as well as it's apparent reliability interest me. That and the fact that I've been offered a refurb at a comparable price to a base Spyder!

However.... I expect that a speedball marker will eat a ton of (prepellant of choice) vs. a milsim like the Tipmanns and BTs my friends (read: opponents) seem to be into. So I'm asking for opinions - if one was to choose an Omen for an all-round marker, woodsball, speedball, playdays... would this make a poor choice? I like the style and the speed (and the price on the one I've found) but I'm not versed in the benefits of NOx vs propane vs CO2 vs air, whether trigger response is of value in woodsball, or wether I'm gonna need to carry like 6 20's to play for an afternoon....

How many balls can you guys get to a tank (of what size and propellant)?

Is NOx worth the cost when drop-temp is a non-issue (like in slowfire woodsball)?

I've got an industrial compressor for my paintbooth - why don't more people just use air?

When not looking for MAX performance (from the marker) do ya really NEED to adjust the settings for every play?

Anything else y'all might want to frighten a noob with.

P.S. I'm ex military, and have figured out that a paintball marker is not a GPMG or a C-9. LOL

The Omen is fine for both speedball and woodsball. They are accurate, dependable and cheap enough now. I would tell you to get a cheap air tank. The biggest problem with a CO2 tank you will run into (with any marker) is they will shoot too fast for the tank and cause freezing. Even siphoned CO2 tanks will not be too good. I have had Omens and Ions both have problems with CO2 because of the speed at which they shoot.

I had a 47/3000 tank and would go through 400 balls in a game and be fine. I usually would only shoot about 2-300 balls a game playing front, but in some games playing in the back I would run out of paint before I did air.

I also have a 72/4500 tank that would last me several games. Omens aren't the most efficient, but they aren't horrible either.

I have had a few kids call themselves out by just running down and firing at the bunker as fast as I could pull the trigger! They will do the job. We used to play at a field where some D2 player would play and I once held two of them off with the Omen vs their shockers. It is a decent marker. Plus the warranty is great.

How many balls can you guys get to a tank (of what size and propellant)?

A...The Omen is a fairly easy gun to feed, and not know to be a gas hog...like the afore mentioned Tippmanns, etc.
With a HPA tank, such as the 68/4500...you can expect shot counts in the neighborhood of 1050 per fill.
An anti siphoned 20 oz. CO2 tank should yield a bit closer to 1500 shots per fill.
As always...your mileage may vary.

Is NOx worth the cost when drop-temp is a non-issue (like in slowfire woodsball)?

A...As long as your CO2 tanks are anti siphoned, and fitted to that particular gun, then HPA isnt necessary.
Id be concerned with temps below 32 degrees because of output vs. operating pressures...but thats it.

When not looking for MAX performance (from the marker) do ya really NEED to adjust the settings for every play?

A...The Omen is a bit more tempramental, with its recock pressure settings and such, but once youre familiar with the gun its really not an issue.

Anything else y'all might want to frighten a noob with.

A...The simple act of just holding a Tippmann has been know to cause impotence, and irreversible hair loss.
Seriously...the Omen is far from being a Mil Sim shooter, but holding its own in a woods game will NOT be a problem.
Running the gun with, say, a gas thu T-stock, and a remote line, will give you a tight and light fast shooting bearer of Black Death, that has to be respected amongst the "20 pound gun" crowd!!

P.S. I'm ex military, and have figured out that a paintball marker is not a GPMG or a C-9. LOL

LMFAO! Thanks a ton to you and pir8! And yeah - my friend's Tipp milsim with a 6 to 8 inch spread at 10 yards was kinda pissin me off when i shoot a 4 inch spread at 500 yards with 7.62s....

So now I'm in a world of confusion, wishing there were only 2 markers to choose from! Tipps are tough, Icons are cheap, Evils are fast, Autocockers are more accurate... I'm sure there are versions of each within each heading. I started out looking for a budget package deal since I'm starting with no tanks, goggles, etc.. So I've got forum members (you guys, shiro, stamantpimp, pwpaintball) all with good advice or a marker for sale or both, with packages like THIS getting me thinking i can buy a cheap 4bps mech semi kit and upgrade to THIS or ONE OF THESE or another deal later. Then 'pimp' offers me a long barrel Icon with tank for cheap and now I'm off doing research again.... Damnit.

I'd decided to go with the Icon X for $70 as a package when I found the Evil for $99 alone, so pir8's article got me liking the Evil when the sales rep mostly talked me into THIS and those deals are only from one website!!!

Jeebus I think I'm just gonna grab the next package under $100 and worry about firing rate when my fingers make it past 5bps LOL

I guess the most important thing to remember...especially in the market of paintball...would be "you get what you pay for".

My advice would be DONT skimp on the safety issues.
A good quality goggle system, with a lens that isnt going to fog the second you break a sweat...everything else comes second!!

Do you see paintball as just a passing phase, or do you plan on sticking around for awhile?...your gun purchase MAY be influenced by things like that.
The decisions youre making are based on your personal preferences, and the style of play you most see yourself executing.
Try not to fall in line with the sheeple crowd.

They are all into MilSim. I like the idea of ROF with accuracy. I'm buggin 'therussian' about his Omen, and the Number 1 Reason I'm being a cheapa55 about all this ... I really don't know how much I'll get into it. There's no "pro" anything around here, no tournament ladder to climb. Basically just woodsball and shoot-yer-friend day. I suppose if I get all addicted I'll trade my SuperMoto bike for a serious piece, but for now it's cheap to get started time LOL. Tryin to keep it under $100 to get tank/mask/marker kinda dealio ya know?

a package under $100 is definetly not gonna be good enough for anybody. try doubling it to $200 and ull be set.
tipmmans are tough yes, but heavy and gas hogs. ions r light and cheap but those r like the ricers of paintball. evil is awesome in regards to markers and service and maintanence (coming from a pimp owner) autococker is good but heavy as well and only semi, no boards to play around with and too many hoses to worry about. I had a friend who had one and it just gave too many problems for not abusing it.
But it seems like you're doing your homework so you'll find a marker that fits your style, good luck

So I gotta PM da 'pimp' that I decided on the Omen (whenever 'therussian' gets back to me) since i can probably borrow someone's "extra" whatever for the rest, the marker was the big deal.... and since i've not really read anything bad about the Omen I'll give it a go. I'm kinda thinking a long barrel and a big tank sound like good later-on ups, but starting with a quality piece will take me longer to outgrow. Or be so fersnikity I wind up wanting a nice simple milsim LMAO

My new question is: why are so many peeps on this forum EX Evil owners who shoot somethin else now?

To me you sound like you more of a woodsball gun and firing rate should be to big of a deal. In my opinion being both an evil and a Tippmann 98 custom owner i would prefer an 98 or a A-5. Only because they are strong long lasting guns.

You can find a 98 cheaper than a omen(I THINK). Not only that but tippmanns have soo many upgrades you be having fun putting parts on it for a while. omens dont have much out for them. If you were to get a 98 i would prefer a good barrel and if you want speed you could always get an electronic trigger for it but then you'll have to get an electronic hopper, and if you want consistancy with it il get a compressed air tank. Tippmanns will last you on the long run no doubt about it.

Just keep you eyes open for good deals on pbnation on the buy sell trade and on ebay. also theres a website thats called trademygun.com if im not mistaken that sell guns as well. Good luck, its always good to hear people getting into paintball

longer barrels being better are just a myth. If you want to upgrade the barrel, you just need one with a good clean polished inside and at least 6 inches before having any porting(holes). the rest of the length of the barrel is just there to help get the ball up to speed. So the more porting in the barrel the more air you are going to end up using while trying to propel your ball to 280 fps.

so get a good barrel probably $30+ for a new one.

for a tank

if you decide to use co2 a 20oz tank will most likely what you want to get. about $20 for a new one.
some of the drawback of co2 are the consistancey varies ex 280fps +/- 30fps
puts out about 1200 psi.
cold, may freeze up the markers internals.
cost more to fill(at least at my field)

compressed air, although more expensive, is much better.
you can get a new steel 68ci/3000psi for probably $60-90.
steel tanks weigh a ton, but you were in the military you can handle it =)
and if you cant, you can get a carbon fiber compressed air tank (alot more expensive, alot lighter)
compressed air tanks are generally cheaper to fill.
more consistant ex 280 fps +/- 10fps
puts out 300-800 psi (depending on tank)

so maybe if your gun costs $100-$150 use co2 (unless specified otherwise)
$151+ use compressed air

hoppers.

yuo probably are going to want an electric hopper.
you can get a perfectly fine used viewloader evolution (egg) hopper for around $30.

if you want to stick with the little 200 round plastic gravity fed loader ($5)you will probably will chop some paint. if you shoot faster than your hopper feeds then the guns bolt will chop the paintball and you will be cleaning your barrel.

masks

when you get a mask get one witha thermal lense.
thermal lenses keep the mask from fogging up.
if you cant see whats the use of playing right.
so i would say this kind of mask will cost about $30+.

I've been able to borrow a Tippy -5 and a '98, and yeah, heavy beasts with a TON of trigger pull. I'm borrowing CO2 20oz 'till I can afford to go HPA, and definately looking for a decent double lens goggle. I've paid for a used Evil Omen, THAT is gonna stand out here - no-one has Evil around here! Just waiting on delivery to get it chrono'd (now that I know what that means!) and follow the setup directions so I can go try to get fast fingers....

All of the advice and opinions noted and appreciated! Seeing what's out there makes me happy i didn't just grap a cheapie off the shelf! :evil:

Soooo... FOLLOWUP!
I gt the Omen, it never worked right. Traded it for a new Cel phone LMAO!
Now I run an '07 Spider Pilot ACS with an empire Twister, SP on/off, and Dye Sticky's. On Co2 fo rnow, tough to get O2 refills locally. Picked up a nice Java gog with thermals. Looking to up the gog to eVent this spring, up the loader to an Apache ASAP, and go O2 when it's more convenient...

Thanks to all for your help and advice!

Nevermind I got so into paintball, I'm hosting a paintball supershow here in Ontario spring of '09 ... but that's another story! LOL!